Invalid Postcode (I know, yet another thread)

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Invalid Postcode (I know, yet another thread)

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buffster

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Hiya

I know there have been various threads on this, but I really can't seem to find a definitive answer anywhere for resolving this issue. An added complication is that I'm trying to get info for my 80 year old mum, who is 200 miles away so I can't exactly even just pop round and try and have a fiddle.

Basically, she started losing some channels last week, notably Ch5, and I know she also had issues with BBC4 at the weekend because she missed The Bridge. Undoubtedly there were issues with other channels, but she doesn't really watch that many, I think ITV was one of the few main channels that wasn't affected.

I suggested she try to rescan the channels, which she eventually managed to do (she's not quite sure how) given that her box repeatedly gave her the Invalid Postcode message. This search found zero channels, and deleted her previous ones. She phoned me really upset at this point, and, with a bit of googling, I suggested she tried a manual scan on transponder 11428H which gave her 8 (I think) obscure channels with a signal strength of 80% and signal quality of 85%. Given that these are well above the 50% referred to in the manual, does this mean that dish/LNB/cabling should all be OK, or at least good enough for the box to work?

If so, how does she manage to get around the postcode issue? She tried a couple of different postcodes in addition to her own, all with no joy at all.

I'm guessing that a factory reset is going to wipe her hard drive and she'll lose all her favourite stored programmes, so that really isn't an option, why should this postcode thing be such an issue?

Also, when doing the first time set up, there is "freesat detection" 3.2, GB22 of the user's manual. Is it possible to run this without doing the factory reset (which really must be a last resort as she'd hate to lose some of the stuff she has saved)? At least this would verify that the dish and LNB were working (wouldn't it?), although I would have thought that the signal strength and quality on 11428H would confirm this anyway, is that right?

It really is the postcode thing though that's stopping the box working at all, as she just can't get the freesat scan to run, the one time it did it found zero channels, so any pointers on this would be greatly accepted. Is it worth checking for a software update? Will incomplete postcodes really work as I read somewhere?

Many thanks in advance.

| Tue 14 Jan 2014 0:56:07 #1 |
grahamlthompson

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Hi welcome to the forum. You seem to have done everything right. This is how it's supposed to work, when you da a first intall, a factory reset or a freesat tune the box goes to the freesat home transponder (11428 H) and downloads a full current database of current freesat transponders and a postcode allocation table. It checks this database for just the first 3 characters of the postcode you have inputted and allocates the channels you should have for your location to be visible in your epg. With the signal you have I can't see any reason why this has failed.

So running a simple freesat tune will repeat the above procedure, you could try this using a different postcode.

Incidentally a reset does not delete your recordings. The fact that you had gradual loss of channels really points to either the lnb failing, the dish may have moved in recent bad weather or you have water in the coax cables.

I would firstly try a factory reset to clear out any data corruption and see how many channels if any you get back.

If none or only a few then carry out a manual tune using the default settings -make sure only free to air channels are selected. You should find around 300 Radio and TV channels on on non-freesat scan.

Significantly less afraid you are going to need someone to check the dish and cabling.

| Tue 14 Jan 2014 9:56:24 #2 |
buffster

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Hi Graham.

Many thanks for such a speedy reply. My mum tried a factory reset, but the freesat detection failed. However, when she did a manual tune she ended up finding 197 channels (various regional stations for BBC1 etc), starting at channel 5000 and something. Still no BBC2 though (amongst others no doubt). Not quite your 300 channels, but not an insignificant number either.

Any thoughts on this?

Is there an obvious way of testing if the LNB has gone? They seem reasonably cheap (I've seen them for £6-£10 on EBAY) and I could probably try replacing it next time I'm back there if I can isolate the problem, tbh I'd rather she not have to pay the undoubtedly expensive call out for an engineer if it's a 5 minute fix.

Can dish repositioning (given she's at 80% and 85% signal strength and quality so presumably not too far off) be achieved with a bit of trial an error on the basis of those readings (ie tweak it a bit one way or the other to get a better signal on that specific transponder)?

Cheers

| Tue 14 Jan 2014 11:19:26 #3 |
grahamlthompson

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When you do a manual tune, there is no logical channel number contained within the broadcast. The box allocates these on a first come first served basis starting at 5000. The fact that you are missing some of the strongest channels points strongly to a lnb issue.

It's the epg that creates the lcn's.

Can you check from the list here if the missing channels are all by any chance all vertical polarisation. Already we know at least some horizontal channels work.

Just checked BBC 2 England is Horizontal, so odd that is missing.

http://en.kingofsat.net/freqs.php?&pos=28.2E&standard=All&ordre=freq&filtre=Clear

Assuming it's a sky dish then a lnb from e-bay should be fine. Make sure it has a legacy fitting capability. The fitting varies with the age/type of the dish. The latest MK4 clips over the lnb arm, older ones push into a hole in the end of the arm. If by any chance the dish is a very old Mk1 one then none of them will fit so a newer dish is the best answer.

It's not that difficult to fit a dish (MK4 dish and lnb from about £20.00 on ebay).

Have a good read here to see what's involved.

http://www.satelliteforcaravans.co.uk/

Your mum will still be able to record using non-freesat but only by manually pressing the record button at the start of a programme. Once recording is started she will be able to select a different available channel for viewing.

| Tue 14 Jan 2014 11:34:52 #4 |
buffster

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I got my mum to read out all the channels she's got. There were a good few that weren't on the list on your link (does freesat still transmit from 2 satellites, perhaps they are from the other one?), however, there were also a good few on that list that she's not picking up. She seems to be missing a few vertical transponder channels (mainly the HD channels), but, from what I can tell, she's missing all the horizontal transponder channels. Does this mean the LNB is shot, or could it be something else?

| Tue 14 Jan 2014 17:46:47 #5 |
grahamlthompson

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buffster - 6 minutes ago »
I got my mum to read out all the channels she's got. There were a good few that weren't on the list on your link (does freesat still transmit from 2 satellites, perhaps they are from the other one?), however, there were also a good few on that list that she's not picking up. She seems to be missing a few vertical transponder channels (mainly the HD channels), but, from what I can tell, she's missing all the horizontal transponder channels. Does this mean the LNB is shot, or could it be something else?

Freesat channels can be on any of the satellites at 28.2/28.5E Should be impossible for any channels not on the list to be present. The link should detail all free to air channels at 28.2/28.5E. The freesat epg is a smaller subset of these (namely the broadcasters who pay the epg fees). Intrigued can you give a couple of examples (a very very small possibility the dish is so misaligned it's picking up an adjacent group) - press opt+ when viewing and note the transponder details.

Can't be sure the other things like the dish way off line or water in the coax cables (symptom is gradual loss of channels). Put it this way I would take a lnb with you next time you visit.

| Tue 14 Jan 2014 17:59:11 #6 |
buffster

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My bad, I doubled checked the list and found the few stragglers (Viva was one that I recognised but I've found it on that list now).

So, given that it seems it's only horizontal transponders affected (and HD channels) presumably the dish isn't way off line as she can get the vertical channels OK (for instance, the various BBC1 regional channels are split between horizontal and vertical, she has all the vertical and none of the horizontal). Is it possible that the recent extreme weather has affected the skew(?) of the LNB, or is it much more likely that the LNB itself is shot?

Many thanks for all your prompt information and advice so far.

| Tue 14 Jan 2014 18:40:07 #7 |
grahamlthompson

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It's possible that the skew is a long way off, but you do have some horizontal channels BBC-2, and the Freesat home transponder for instance so it's unlikely to be that far off (if it was that far off you wouldn't get the 28A vertical transponder very close to 11428 H (Do you get
bid, price drop, Bloomberg TV and France 24 ?) .

Unless the lnb is very loose in it's collar I would say the lnb is kaput.

| Tue 14 Jan 2014 19:02:36 #8 |
buffster

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Sorry, we must have wires crossed (or with water in perhaps ), BBC2 is one of the channels she lost first, before she tried any retuning. I couldn't find any horizontal channels at all on that list as far as I'm aware. She currently has got bid, price drop, Bloomberg and France24 (on the list as transponder frequency 11426V).

| Tue 14 Jan 2014 20:07:15 #9 |
grahamlthompson

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buffster - 1 hour ago »
Sorry, we must have wires crossed (or with water in perhaps ), BBC2 is one of the channels she lost first, before she tried any retuning. I couldn't find any horizontal channels at all on that list as far as I'm aware. She currently has got bid, price drop, Bloomberg and France24 (on the list as transponder frequency 11426V).

Senior moment Imagine it must be the lnb as you did get at least one H channel at one time. One other possibility is a power supply issue on the Foxsat (12.5 to 14V on the lnb coax gives Horizontal, 15.5 - 18V gives Vertical)

| Tue 14 Jan 2014 21:16:20 #10 |